HOT LINE REPORT N1 September 30-October 10, 2000
Electoral Violations Reported to the Azerbaijan Electoral Rights Protection Hotline

SOS –93 83 97 Electoral Rights Protection Hotline is acting with the initiative of the following Azeri NGOs: 1. Political and Economic Reforms Center; 2. Azerbaijan National Democracy Foundation; 3. Support Center for the Democratic Elections; 4. The Association for the Protection of Women’s Rights after D.Alieva; 5. The Center for Pluralism "Inam"; 6. The Committee for the Protection of Democracy and Human Rights.

The main goal of the activity of the hotline is to create conditions for the citizens for struggling for their electoral rights. For that purpose there are created possibilities for the candidates, party activists and voters whose rights have been violated to call 938-397 hotline and report abuses and seek legal assistance. Announcements about it and the numbers of the Hotline are published in the local newspapers. The colleagues of the Hotline are, regularly, receiving the reports from the citizens whose electoral rights have been violated on the 938-397 and 314-17-17 hotline, give legal assistance to them.

The Electoral Rights Protection Hotline prepares reports on the violations of electoral rights, as well. For forming more detailed view on the scale and directions of the illegalities during the elections, some information on the violations published at the local media are included to the reports of the hotline.

Report N1 of the SOS- 938-397 Electoral Rights Protection Hotline on the received reports on the illegalities during the preparation stage to the parliamentary elections of the Republic of Azerbaijan scheduled for November 5, 2000.

From September 30 to October 10, 2000, the hotline received reports of 88 incidents.

OUR COMMENT

From September 30 to October 10, 2000, the CEC has been registering the candidacy on the majoritarian election districts, and the reports are mainly about the illegalities made during that period. It is notable that the CEC has registered the candidacy of only 365 of 1,008 who collected over the required 50 thousand signatures and applied to the Local Election Commissions [LEC] for joining to the electoral process. Most of the candidates whose candidacy is rejected are said that their signatures were invalid. The received reports show that the process of checking the signatures at the Regional Election Commissions [REC] is held at a non-professional level. There are working groups in every LECs for checking the signatures, but they are composed of the colleagues of the municipal services of the local authorities. And they, but not experts, graphologistst, have declared the signatures invalid.

The main important fact is that the majority of the candidates whose signatures were have been declared invalid and refused to register are representatives of the radical oppositional parties. In addition, there also incidents of declaring the signatures invalid of the candidates who have problems with the government circles, as well as local officials.

The majority of the incidents involved efforts by police to prevent the democratic opposition from collecting the signatures necessary to register their candidates, and refusal by the Central Electoral Commission to register candidates who had collected the required signatures. Party activists and candidates who were collecting signatures were arrested, beaten, and threatened by the police, who also confiscated and destroyed electoral petitions.

There are more serious illegalities in the provinces in comparison with Baku. For example, the LEC has been composed, generally, against the law in Gadabay region. And the chairman of the LEC in Nakhichevan has openly confirmed that he is acting with the order of the local authorities. In addition, the reports on the illegalities are not directly addressed to the local courts, but to the CEC. It seems, they do not believe that the illegalities can be restored in the provinces.

A LAWYER’S OPINION

In the reports given to the SOS-938397 Defense of Electoral Rights Hotline have been violated the following requisitions of the legislature of the country.

1. The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Article 56- Electoral Rights. "The citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan have a right to elect and be elected".
2. The Law on the Elections to Milli Mejlis [the parliament]; Article 4- "The electoral rights of the Azerbaijani citizens".

The requisitions of these articles have been violated in the attitude towards the candidates that have been refused to register and voters who signed in support of those candidates.

3. The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Article 25- "The right of equality".

"I. Every person is equal before the law and court.

II. The state guarantees everybody’s rights and freedoms regardless of their race, nationality, religion, language, origin, property will, position, view, affiliation to the political parties, trade unions, and other public organizations. It is prohibited to limit the rights and freedoms of people and citizens for their racial, national, religious, language, sexual, original, ideological, political, and social affiliation".

The noted item of the Article 25 of the Constitution has been roughly violated in the attitude towards the oppositional political parties and their members. The oppositional parties and their members have been put to an unequal condition for their opinions and political views. While there have been created all the legal and illegal conditions for the governmental parties and their supporters in the elections, the opposite side has been illegally deprived of this possibility. Even the independent candidates who do not agree with the policy of the current authorities have been debarred from the elections by illegal ways.

4. The law on the elections to Milli Mejlis; Article 7.2.

"… The election commissions do not depend on the government structures and institutions of self-government in preparing and holding of the elections. It is allowed of the mentioned structures and their officials to interfere to the activity of the election commissions. Those interfering or influencing the work of the election commissions are instituted to administrative or criminal proceedings".

The requisitions of this Article have been violated in most of the election districts. The local authorities are interfering to the work of the election commissions. The election commissions are acting by the control and order of the executive structures.

5. Article 49 of the Constitution; "The freedom of free gathering".
6. The law on the elections to Milli Mejlis; Article 46.5- "Provisions of the candidate’s activity".

The requisitions of these articles have been violated in the regions, where the candidates faced with arrests and pressures.

7. The law on the election to Milli Mejlis; Article 22.1- "The status of the members of the election commissions".

According to this article, the members of municipality are prohibited to be at the structure of the election commissions. The article has been violated in some RECs.

8. The law on the elections to Milli Mejlis; Article 44- "Registration of a candidate and list of single candidates".

In most cases, the RECs have declared the voters’ signatures invalid while they were valid, and the article has been violated.

9. The law on the election to Milli Mejlis; Article 44.7- "The rule of giving complaints on the refusal of registration".

According to the items of this Article, the CEC has to response to the received complaints in the course of 5 days. But in most cases, the CEC either has not considered the complaints or delayed to response.

10. The law on the elections to Milli Mejlis; Article 28- "Organizing the activity of the election commissions".

According to the items of this article, the decisions of the REC must be adopted with the 2/3 majority of voices of the REC members. But in most cases, the decisions on registering the candidates have been adopted with a simple majority of voices.

The Reports:
September 30 - October 3
October 4 - October 6
October 7 - October 10

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Posted October 18, 2000 © Eurasianet
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